Sakura Viewings
by TheBloodyLoveOfSakuraHaruno
Summary: Sasuke is back in Konoha and Hebi came with him. Seemingly happy with Karin, Sakura can only feel broken hearted. When Madara comes out of nowhere, he leaves Tsunade with only one choice. To put Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke on a mysterious mission. T for language. Currently under revision #3 But it's really good :D
1. The Ominous First Snow

**Chapter 1: The Ominous First Snow**

Attempt #3:

Forgive me for once again editing these chapters. I realized that I made a mistake in chapter nine that would affect the plot and I figured since it's been a year since I updated (I'm so sorry, please forgive me), that I'd try to make this story a little better. I also never thought I had so many followers… Thank you! It means so much. All of you have inspired me to, once again, update! Also, if you wanted any of the original chapters…sorry…I don't think I have them anymore D:

Song: Hanabi- Ikimono Gakari (This was an ending song for Bleach)

*****Don't skip this chapter if you've already read this story. I've made significant changes!*****

~_Sakura's POV_~

For the first time in our history, it was snowing in Konohagakure! And where was I? In the middle of the street, dancing and singing to a tune that was stuck in my head, of course! The sound of my voice carried throughout the town like Sakura petals floating in the spring breeze. I was walking the familiar, yet strangely empty, road with a particular destination in my mind.

"Kirameite yurameite aoki yume mai hanatsu hana moe yuku…" Seeing as winter almost never comes to Konoha, I was not well dressed to be out in the cold. I donned the warmest clothes I could find: A lavender colored sweater I usually wore on chilly nights, a pair of jeans I occasionally wore with my casual clothes, a white hat I had for no reason, and some sneakers for when I would go jogging. I admit, they weren't the best, but a little cold weather wasn't going to keep me inside!

"...Seijaku ni ochiru sora futahira no yume hanabi kanata ni tabidatsu anata mo mieta no?" I could hear the beat of the song in my head so clearly, it was like the band was around me performing it. My dance seemed as graceful as a celestial goddess to me but I know it didn't actually look like that in reality. I probably looked more like a fish out of water.

"...Setsuna ni hirak-" I stopped abruptly when I felt that I was no longer the only person on the previously deserted street. A much too familiar presence was standing behind me, sending chills down my spine. My happiness was sucked out of me almost immediately and I cringed visibly when the voice spoke out.

"Sakura Haruno, I have a message for you from the elders." I stood in silence with the ANBU member at my back. Never making the slightest move to turn around to look at him and never giving him anything less my complete attention. He was too dangerous to even let my mind wander for a second.

This particular ANBU and I have had a history. Not the typical history. We never dated or anything like that. I once thought of him as a friend...plain and simple. ROOT. Yes, he was from ROOT and could care less about who he hurt, as long as he finished his mission successfully. Who could blame him though? After all, that is how members of ROOT were taught to act.

_Of course the elders would send him; Tsunade-sama would never send him to see me._ I absent-mindedly tried to raise my hand to trace a scar on my chest, but knew I couldn't show him even the slightest sign of weakness. When my silence did not change, he continued with his message.

"There is an **S-Rank** mission up for audition. The audition commences at three p.m. tomorrow in the Chuunin testing stadium. The elders want you to participate. Oh, and bring the _Uchiha_." He said _Uchiha_ as if the word were so disgusting to say, it would rot his mouth. Immediately, in a poof of white smoke, he was gone.

_Audition...?_ This left me momentarily baffled. There were never auditions for missions, especially not S-ranked missions. Also, for the elders to instruct me to be there personally and for me to bring Sasuke, it must be important. Though convincing Sasuke to try out for something like that would be difficult, if not impossible. Sasuke would not talk to many people in the village now he had returned. Naruto, some of the Rookie Nine, his old team "Hebi", the Hokage when necessary and I were the only people he would have contact with. I didn't blame him for not talking to other people though; I started walking while thinking about the past. After _that _incident, I would be wary of who I talked to too. Not to mention, the village had never fully accepted Sasuke back; he was shunned.

I soon found myself walking faster towards my destination. The further away from that place I could get, the better. As I got closer, I watched where I was going less and less. My mind was in deep thought, and I knew this route well, though I usually only found myself just passing by.

Walking up the stairs to the third floor of this apartment complex was an easy task while my mind was racing. But I failed to notice that there was that pole there...*Thunk* I fell on my butt like there was a fifty pound weight attached to the back of me.

"What are you doing here?" I heard his silky smooth voice ask as I rubbed my aching bum.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun!" I said hugging him; as usual he didn't hug me back. I decided that he would give in one day though!

"What's wrong?" He asked me. I looked into his dark, seductive coal eyes and stepped away from him a little with a confused look on my face. Just now admiring his clothing of choice, I realized he had on a pair of light looking black pajama pants and a white T-shirt. He was standing in his doorway with messy, bed-head hair. He must've just woken up not too long ago. After all, it was only about 8:30 a.m.

"I don't know what you are talking about." I replied averting my gaze to the offensive pole.

"You're eyes are clouded with fear and your hands are shaking. Tell me what happened." It wasn't a request to be answered. It was a 'Tell-me-what's-wrong-or-I'll-tsukiyomi-it-out-of-you' statement. His eyes backed up what he said as he gave me a peeved glare. *Sigh*

"Well," I looked down with a grim expression, "I met _that_ ANBU on the way over here and he had a message," I looked into his eyes searching for a hint of emotion, "for us". He wore an expression that made me worry about what he was remembering. He looked off into space for awhile before I decided it was time to break him out of the past.

"Sasuke-kun? Can I come in for a bit? It's really cold out here." I asked putting on an innocent face and wrapping my arms around my small body, imitating a slight shiver.

"Ah." He turned and started walking back into his apartment. Shoving his hand in his hair, I could tell he was frustrated, though he quickly removed his hand, trying to keep his cool. _He's going to crack if he doesn't vent to someone soon..._

"Thanks." Upon entering I was bombarded by the sweet smell of apple pie and the warm feeling of a roaring fire place.

"Since when does the great Uchiha prodigy know how to cook? Especially pie?" I asked stifling a laugh. I was secretly hoping I could somehow get my hands on a piece of his home-made pie though.

"I don't." He was cold to me, making it excruciatingly obvious he wanted me to leave quickly. _What's wrong with him?_ I turned to look in the kitchen and saw Karin pulling a delectable looking apple pie out of the oven. You could see the smoky white steam dispersing into the air above it. A slight twinge of jealousy went through my body.

"Oh, hi Sakura-chan! I didn't know you were coming over today!" She said, throwing me a model worthy smile. My confidence and mood just dropped by 200 percent. As if it wasn't low enough already... I had no idea Karin and Sasuke were _a thing_.

"Do you like apple pie? I got up early to make it. It's Sasuke-kuns favorite!" She said rubbing salt in my freshly opened wound.

"Uhm...Yeah, but I'm busy. Sorry. It's nice to see you again, Karin. I just gotta tell Sasuke-kun something about a mission." I put on the biggest fake smile I've ever had to use. I didn't want to upset Sasuke any further by _intruding_. Sasuke looked at me skeptically; he knows that I want to stay longer.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe next time?" She was so nice to me after we accepted Hebi into Konoha. It was rough for them at first, but Naruto and I supported Sasukes wish to have them accepted into the village. Slowly, they were making progress with the villagers.

Things between me and her have always been a little…weird though. She is aware of the love I've always held for Sasuke, and she…well…she is very upfront with her feelings towards him.

"Sure." Sasuke again glanced at me, with his accusatory eyes. It was like I killed his kitten today and he was trying to suppress his want to get revenge on me. _Maybe I came at a really bad time today?_

"If you're here to tell him about the auditions, then I already told him." She placed the pie onto a silver cooling rack next to a picture of her and Sasuke and he was **smiling**. My world felt like it cracked a little. She was hugging him too, and he wasn't pushing her away.

_I want to leave._

"Oh, well thank you! My job is already done for me then. I guess I'll be going. I have lots of things to do at the hospital today. See you later!" I hadn't even made it ten steps into his, maybe even _their_, apartment. I tried to keep the bitterness I was feeling out of my voice. I was successful and I could see that Karin was completely fooled by my act. Sasuke, on the other hand, was a different story. He always seemed to be able to read my thoughts and emotions perfectly. How inconvenient. He also knew I had work at the hospital off today for team training and that I just wanted to leave.

I walked out the door quickly and closed it behind me. I know Sasuke saw the face I made, so I dashed off as quickly as I could without using any chakra, so I wouldn't alert Karin of how I felt right now.

"Sakura, wait!" I could hear Sasuke yell after me. He ran after me, slamming the door on his way out. I was running really fast and started adding more and more chakra as I went. I didn't want to be caught by him right now and I didn't want him to see my sullen face. I ran past little shops and stalls that were all abandoned today. I assumed it had to do with the lack of warm clothing people owned.

"Sakura!" He was gaining on me and I refused to turn around and see just how close he was to grabbing me. I didn't want to get caught by him, no matter what. I just wanted to be useful to him! .._To not get in his way all the time_...

I ran down an alley to a street that was usually littered with people. I was getting closer to the hospital. _I just need to make it in there, and he'll leave. The smell makes him sick._ I took an abrupt turn to my right to be greeted by ice covered stairs. What do I do? Fall, of course. I braced myself for impact when I felt a pair of warm, strong arms grasp my waist. _Sasuke..._ I turned to see him panting hard. He embraced me into a hug. He put one off his rough, yet gentle hands into my silky hair pushing my face into his chest. Now was not the time to notice, but he smelt so _good_. He was still in his pajamas. No coat and only house slippers covering his feet. His other arm wrapped around my waist tighter, but only tight enough to keep me from running again. He confused me with his actions. _Why would he chase after me in his pajamas and hug me so tightly if he's with Karin?_

"You scared me." He said, finally catching his breath. "Sakura..."

I looked into his eyes for a sign, fearing that he would be mad at me for running away from him. They looked soft but only momentarily, until he realized what he was doing. He released me instantly and stepped away as if I had burned him.

"Call before you come over. I have important things to do. You can't just come over when you feel like it." He just walked back the way we had just come from. I stood there dumb-founded and slightly heart-broken. Tears stung my eyes even though I was prepared for something like this to happen. I turned back to the offensive stairs to start walking away. Something caught my attention in front of my feet; it was glimmering. Surprised and confused I picked it up promptly. It was a silver ring with a ruby in the center and two diamonds accenting the sides. The silver band had an exquisite design that was as captivating as the vast oceans. It was strung on a silver chain that matched the ring perfectly. Engraved on the inside of the band was _**"Love will always shine, even through the darkness"**_.

_Where did this come from?_I looked around for the owner but I saw no one in the area. I felt a faint chakra that gave me a slight feeling of nostalgia. I decided to follow it and I found myself at the entrance of the old Uchiha compound. I could feel the chakra getting stronger and stronger the further in I went. I followed the chakra to the most elegant house in the middle of the enormous compound.

I walked through the worn garden gate and slowly up to the abandoned front door. There were weeds overtaking the old stone path and there was a litter of wind-blown trash collected in the brittle fence and untrimmed bushes. As I reached the door, the ring had once again peaked my interest. I took it out to examine it momentarily.

_Did it come from this familiar chakra?_ I placed it back into my pocket and grabbed the cold doorknob. This door looked like it hadn't been opened in years, but as I turned the knob; it worked like it was brand new. The chakra grew stronger, again, so I, again, followed it. I followed its traces to a room with a dirty window and a dust covered picture hanging on the wall. Nothing else but a couple of stains and cracks on the walls and floors …_blood. No wonder Sasuke never comes here._

I decided to look at the picture closer; I took it into my hands and dusted it off with my sleeve. The light color of my sweaters sleeve was now a dark gray. _Gross._ I identified Sasuke and Itachi. I assumed the older man and woman standing behind them were their parents. They looked happy together. Itachi was rubbing Sasukes head with a slight smirk on his face. Sasuke was grimacing at his older brothers antics while their parents were holding each other; looking at their children fondly. _This must be Sasuke's house._

"Thank you for coming, Haruno Sakura. I did not think you would accept my invite." I whipped my head around to find the owner of the voice, to be greeted by a single Sharingan surrounded by an orange, swirling mask. The man was leaning confidently against the wall.

"Who are you? Do you know of this ring?" I asked, holding up the ring. My voice was serious and my face expressed a slight stern-ness. I faintly recognized his mask. _Have I seen him before?_

"Madara Uchiha, and yes, I do. After all, I pried it out of Makoto Uchihas cold, dead hands." He responded calmly as I inwardly gasped. His body language gave off the feeling of not only confidence, but utter control. My eyes went wide for a split second before I hardened them on his figure, slightly in the shadows.

"What do you want? Why did you give me this ring?" I glared at him. I needed as much info as I could get before I booked it out of here as fast as I could.

"I want Sasuke back under my control…and you are the key to that, my dear Sakura-_chan_." I twinged as he added the informality to the end of my name. He stepped out into the light slightly and I noticed his cloak immediately. _Akatsuki. So he's the one Naruto fought before in that forest. I need to get away…. Even Naruto was no match for him._ I started to faintly fluctuate my chakra. A ninja SOS. It was too flashy to use when you're hiding from the enemy, but I felt right now that I just needed help, and fast.

"I wouldn't do that, Sa-ku-ra." He was behind me, in an instant, breathing down my neck. I realized that I couldn't even defend myself against him, and I whirled around to look him in the face. "I want to destroy the happiness Sasuke is feeling right now; playing happy little village with all his happy little friends. It's only a mere illusion, a lie, and I will use **you** to show him that, Haruno Sakura." Taken by surprise, all I could do was stare at his exposed eye. Anger radiated off of his entire being and his words dripped with venom. I was feeling suddenly hopeless, so I made a dart for the only window in the room. _If I could just get some help!_

* * *

Well….this was my third attempt at editing/changing this story. Quite a few details have been changed and it will make quite a difference. I have taken all the other old chapters down because the story will be changed quite a bit. The second chapter, which is incredibly different (but better!), is almost done and will probably be out within a day. I hope you like this better. I'm going to try to update at least once every week or two. If I don't, please yell at me! :C

Once again, I am **so **sorry for the delay. But this will turn out much better, I promise. :D


	2. Long Week

Chapter 2: Take three! XD Well..in my opinion, the first chapter went well :) As I previously stated, even if you read the original of this story, re-read it. Too many things have been changed :) (Especially in this chapter…wow…)

* * *

I couldn't look back as I ran away from the main house in the Uchiha compound. He was close enough to touch my back if he really wanted to. _Tch, he's going easy on me. He's letting me just barely get away from him. He could use his jutsu to get ahead of me without any problems. What's his true motive? What is his true aim right now?_

So many questions swirled in my head like a rapidly growing tornado. I sped up my pace with some more chakra. He was too close to me for comfort, though I knew my effort was in vain. I had been running for half a minute now and I was almost out of the giant compound. He was making me feel like a mouse in a maze that could never be escaped. He gave off the feeling that he controlled me right now, which made my skin crawl. I jumped over the grand gate and made my way quickly towards the training grounds. I still didn't dare to even glance behind myself in fear of possibly stumbling and being caught by him. I was late for the team training so hopefully my teammates would be on alert for my arrival, if only I could just get their attention.

"Do you want to get caught?" I asked him while short of breath. "I mean you are in the middle of Konoha! What are you trying to pull?"

"Do you really think I would get caught so easily? You should be more worried about yourself." He was too calm for being right in the middle of enemy territory. His calm attitude was making me even more curious and worried as to what he was trying to pull.

"What use am I to you? What does Akatsuki, or yourself for that matter, want with me? You could've killed me already if you wanted to set Naruto on a rampage and Sasuke could care less about me it seems, so why go through the trouble of entering the center of your enemies' territory?"

"I can't tell you that right now."

_This guy can really get on peoples nerves. I've had a horrible morning. Seeing__**him**__and being blatantly rejected by Sasuke. This guy is just making it __so__ much worse._ I was almost to the training grounds now. Citizens that usually lined the streets were nowhere to be seen. It was so barren of life in town. _Is the snow really that bad?_

I looked to my left where he was about to come up on my side but I jumped off of the roof to the right. I was hoping to jump across the street onto another roof, but after I jumped, Madara jumped as well. He grabbed onto my arm and pulled me towards him. I realized what he was trying to do; he was hindering my ability to land. We went plummeting down towards the ground and I knew he had some way to keep himself from getting hurt.

We were close enough to the training grounds that I had hoped Akashi-sensei had sensed us, but I couldn't rely on him being there on time. So I did what I could in that situation, I screamed.

"NARUTO! SASUKE!" Came ripping from my throat so loud, and terror filled that I had hoped they came bolting as fast as they could. Of course, it was too late. I saw the ground coming closer and closer and realized all I could do was brace myself.

I felt my back hit the ground, hard. A gasp left my throat as all the air was knocked out of my body. My senses were disoriented, as I had hit my head quite hard as well, but I knew I needed to get away from him. I felt his body on top of me so I tried to kick. My body however wouldn't respond. I felt warmth running down my right arm and looked to see what was causing it. My blurry vision saw red running down my arm from the spot where a kunai happened to be sticking out.

When I finally realized that my arm had a _kunai_ sticking out of it, I panicked a little. My brain registered that the glossy coat over it must also be a poison which would explain why I couldn't move my body. I looked at his singular eye with my fear filled ones. He laughed sickeningly.

"Ha...Hahahaha! I can't believe this is so _easy_!" He said with a disbelieving tone. The last thing I wanted to do was make whatever he wanted to do _easy_.

"Get **away** from her!" Someone growled. My eyes dazedly moved to see Naruto starting to turn into the nine-tails. He had those blood-thirsty red eyes and razor sharp claws again.

Sasuke was standing next to him looking angrily at me. _Probably because I'm so weak…_My eyes were starting to close when I was ungracefully dragged to my feet by the stupid, masked man. He held me by my hair, which was all too familiar a feeling for me. My wobbling legs barely held me up while my arms were useless at my side. The kunai had fallen out of my arm but I wondered why there was so much blood in the snow. _My wound wasn't that big was it?_

I was still dazed and confused but I felt something in my left hand. I looked at it and realized I was still holding onto the picture of Sasuke and his family. The glass had broken in my hand and cut it in various places, which was where all the other blood was coming from, staining the white snow below me a crimson red.

"What do you want, _Madara_." Sasuke seemed to spit out. He leered in our direction at the man holding onto me.

"Well well, Sasuke. How nice to see you again. Oh, and you too Naruto-_kun_." He said with a falsified joy in his voice. Naruto just seemed to spit at him.

"Let **go** of Sakura-chan right now!" Naruto roared once more.

"Calm down Naruto." Sasuke seethed at Naruto.

"Yes, calm down Naruto. You wouldn't want poor little Sakura-_chan_ here to get hurt would you?" Madara teased. "If you're not careful, the poison will spread to her heart by the time you can save her and she will die." I swished this thought around in my mind a couple times to grip what he was saying. _I'm going to die…?_

"Cut to the chase, Madara. What do you want?" Sasuke said with anger lacing his silky voice.

"Well, Sasuke, I want _**this girl right here**_." He said motioning to me. I tried to speak out, but I couldn't use my voice. _No, Sasuke, he's after you…don't fall for it…_

"And what business do you have, exactly, with **my **apprentice?" I heard my teacher's voice and inwardly sighed with relief.

"Tsunade-baa-chan! Kakashi-sensei! Finally!" Naruto exclaimed with, what also seemed like, a relived sigh.

"Oh, why hello Tsunade. Kakashi." Madara said once again with his fake joy. "As nice as it is to see you, I have no business with you. My business is strictly with these three fine young shinobi." He motioned to Naruto, Sasuke and me. "But, as it seems to be getting difficult to have a conversation with them, I shall take my leave. But I do have a request, Tsunade. I want these three assigned to that mission."

"How do you kno-" Tsunade-sama started to demand…

"If you don't keep them all together on this mission, they will all die. All three of them will be in grave danger, danger even you can't protect them from, especially your precious student. Tootles." And with that he was gone in an orange swirl. My hair was released as he disappeared but my weak legs gave out on me and I fell towards the ground once again. In a flash, Sasuke was holding me up with one arm supporting my back and the other inspecting the picture in my hand.

"Where were you just at?" Sasuke looked at me harshly after glaring at the picture. Naruto rushed over to join us and inspect my limp form.

""I was...on my way…to the hospital..." I replied to Sasuke weakly but he wouldn't have accepted my response even if it was coming from me confidently. He snatched the picture out of my hand not caring if he had injured me further.

"Then where did you get this?" Sasuke asked while holding up the broken and bloodied picture frame. I avoided his eyes and looked at his body instead. He now had on black sweatpants and a grey T-shirt, his training clothes. His bed head had also been put into place. Tsunade-sama ran up beside me, with members of ANBU trailing behind her, and gave my poisoned arm worried glance.

_Why will we die if we aren't together…and to put us on a mission…a specific one…I'm so confused…_My eyes slowly started to close. I tried to fight it but my eyelids were as heavy as sandbags.

"Sakura! Stay awake!" Tsunade-sama was yelling at me frantically. I knew that it was important that I kept conscious but it was so _hard_.

"Sakura-chan, don't die!" Naruto started tearing up and freaking out. Sasuke just looked down at me, still angry but less so than before.

"Hmph. _**Weak**_." I heard someone say. At first I thought it was Sasuke but I realized his mouth never moved. I looked over Tsunade-sama's shoulder and saw **that** ANBU. Naruto, Sasuke and I seized up as soon as we realized who he was.

"Keep quiet." Tsunade-sama ordered. "We're taking her to the hospital right now. Uchiha, carry her there for me. Kakashi, go find Shizune. I'm going to need her help. Kamai, go instruct the nurses to prepare a room for us. Naruto, go with Sasuke and keep her awake. I need to go get some ingredients." She gave everyone their orders. Finally, she turned to _that man_ and told him, "Go report to the elders about what happened." With that everyone ran off to do their respectful tasks.

Sasuke flew like the wind to make it to the hospital. Naruto was talking to me and holding my unhurt hand, trying to keep me awake. He was telling me about all the fun things we still had to do, how we still had to eat at Ichiraku a million more times, how we had to kick Madara's ass and so on. Sasuke just had a poker-face the whole time and never put in his two-cents. When we got to the hospital, they had a room all ready for us. Tsunade hadn't made it back yet and I was fading quickly. Naruto ran out of the room screaming for a nurse but it was still no good. I could feel myself slipping away slowly.

"Damn it, Sakura. Stay awake!" Sasuke growled. I couldn't really comprehend why he was so upset. Just this morning he treated me like a nuisance.

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun…looks like I am…really weak, huh?" I tried to push the words out of my lazy mouth. I had a sad kind of expression on my face as I remembered I couldn't go without saying one last thing, "I love you, Sasuke-kun." His eyes looked shocked as I stared into them. Now I really knew I couldn't hold on, because my chest started burning and I couldn't breathe.

"Don't you dare fucking die on me!" He yelled as he pushed his mouth onto mine, his hand in my hair. My droopy eyes widened a little as I thought he had kissed me. Then I realized he was pushing oxygen into my lungs, he was doing CPR to keep me alive till Tsunade got there. I was still really surprised and giddy at the fact it was still kind of a kiss. I attributed the electric feeling running throughout my entire body as a side-effect of the CPR. Tsunade rushed in the room at that moment with Naruto yelling after her. They both stopped and gasped with wide eyes. Sasuke got up and glared at them.

"Hurry up and do something, the poison has spread to her lungs, she can't breathe." He commanded in an irritated tone. Tsunade came to my side in an instant but Naruto still stood there with his mouth hanging wide open, staring incredulously at Sasuke. Despite all their efforts, I still started seeing black and fading out. The last thing I saw was Sasuke's fearful face.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

I woke up, apparently, two days later. Naruto was passed out at my bed-side, Sasuke was passed out in a chair, but Kakashi-sensei was awake leaning up against a wall. He was reading that signature orange book like always.

"Sensei…?" I rasped. I needed some water or something.

"Oh, you're awake, Sakura. I'm glad." He smiled that smile that reaches out to only that one eye. "Let me get you some water." He poured me a glass and I gulped it down feeling only half satisfied. "Thanks." I said and handed the glass back to him hoping I'd get more. I glanced at Naruto and Sasuke resting peacefully. "They've never left your side. Not even Sasuke." He said while pouring me another glass.

I remembered what Sasuke had done when I was struggling to breathe and my face flushed a rosy red. My lips turned into a soft and sweet smile. _They really never left? Even Sasuke stayed…?_ I was happy knowing I was so cared for. Kakashi-sensei handed me back the glass that was newly filled with water. This time I took my time drinking it, sipping slowly and enjoying it.

"I'll go let Tsunade-sama know you've woken up. She's been worried sick." He said as he exited the room. I sighed as I put the glass of water down on a side-table and noticed the flowers. _Ino..._I thought fondly of my best friend as I realized she put these here for me. I sat back and thought about how I was going to explain everything to Tsunade-sama.

"Why were you there?" I heard the angry demand and jumped a little bit. Sasuke had his eyes wide open, staring at me, looking for answers.

"What?" I asked momentarily confused. His eyes slimmed into a glare that froze my blood.

"Why were you at the compound?" He demanded an irritated voice. I looked at him and debated about showing him the ring. In the end, I decided he was the rightful owner and pulled it out of my pocket.

"This." I said showing it to him. His eyes widened and he scowled at me even more.

"Where did you get that?" He suddenly jumped from his chair and snatched it from me.

"Madara. He used it to get my attention. When I questioned him about it, he said he took it from your mother after she had…died…" I choked out the last part, not sure if it would bring unwanted memories. "It is rightfully yours." He scoffed and left the room, slamming the door. The noise succeeded in waking Naruto. He jolted awake with a snort.

"Good morning Sakura-chan…" He sleepily said while rubbing his eyes.

"It's not quite morning anymore, Naruto." Kakashi-sensei said while bringing Tsunade-sama into the room. There was one more person following behind them…_That man again? Ugh…_My eyes silently asked my teachers for answers as to why that man was in my hospital room. He seemed to pick up on my question and answer me before anyone else, even before Naruto could get a complaint out.

"The elders wish to know what happened between you and the masked man." He said with an air of authority. Naruto looked at me with sympathetic eyes and grabbed my hand, a reassurance that he was there for me. I glanced at my teachers and they nodded for me to start, though they looked quite unhappy about this whole situation.

"Well…I was on my way to the hospital to complete a few quick errands. I felt a familiar chakra but couldn't remember where I knew it from. It was strange. So I followed it. I followed its traces and ended up at the main house in the Uchiha compound. I entered the house and went to a room. There was no one there, which was curious. The room only had a picture on the wall. I grabbed the picture off of the wall and dusted it off, out of curiosity. That masked man then appeared in the room and identified himself as Madara Uchiha. When I saw the Akatsuki robes, I knew he was trouble so I jumped out of the only window in the room. I started running for the training grounds because I knew my team was going to be there for training today. It was closer to me than Hokage tower..." I said nervously.

"How did you outrun him?" Tsunade-sama asked looking apprehensive of my story. _I'm not going to say anything about the ring. I don't want it to be taken from Sasuke. I also don't want the elders to know Akatsuki is after him..._I was uncomfortable knowing that that ANBU member was the one interrogating me.

"I don't know. He should have been able to catch me. In fact, I was always within his arms' reach. He also could have used his space-time jutsu to get ahead of me very easily as well. His purpose was obviously something other than killing me, because he had every chance to." I frowned. I saw the regretful look on Naruto's face as I said that. I suddenly remembered Madara's request though. "What is this mission that he wanted us on anyways? What kind of mission would be safer than being around you?" She looked saddened to even think about the mission. _I wonder what's wrong with this mission..._

"Sakura, come to my office tomorrow at 9 a.m. I'll brief team 7, excluding Kakashi, then. Shoko, come here." Shoko appeared before us as fast as lightning. She was an ANBU member who was always hiding around Tsunade-sama. I'd only met her at the hospital before and it was very brief while I was healing her, she prefers to stay hidden. "Tell Shizune to make the announcement that the auditions for the mission are off." _So this is the mission people were supposed to audition for? The S-ranked one?_

"Yes, Hokage-sama." With that, Shoko was gone in a white puff.

"Sakura, have someone escort you home. Get some rest; I will have someone take over your shift at the hospital today and tomorrow." Tsunade-sama said walking back towards the Hokage tower with **that** ANBU and Kakashi-sensei following her. Naruto looked at me and I figured he'd be the only one willing to walk me back to my apartment.

"Naruto...why do you think we..." I started.

"I don't know Sakura-chan. But Teme and I will protect you, no matter what! You are our precious friend. No one is going to get to you, or any of us, as long as we're around. Right teme?" Naruto spoke confidently while looking towards a roof where Sasuke seemed to be following us. He had only grunted in response to Naruto's question, and being caught. Not that he was trying very hard to be hidden. Naruto smiled with the 'Nice-Guy' grin. Sasuke never chimed into the conversation after that, only followed us on the roofs silently. Not that there was much conversation to burst into anyway. It was mostly Naruto talking and us listening...if Sasuke was even listening. It was almost like Sasuke was in another world the whole walk to my apartment.

"Thanks for walking me back Naruto, Sasuke." I hugged Naruto at my doorstep and gave him a meek grin. Naruto's words were comforting but they couldn't chase away the feeling I had in the bottom of my stomach. I could feel that the day wasn't over just yet. Waving 'bye' to Naruto and Sasuke I rejected Naruto's offer to stay with me and quickly entered my apartment. I threw all my ninja stuff on the coffee table in my living room and leaned against the wall with a sigh.

My apartment was simple. There was a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom. One person didn't really need more than that. I looked at my bandaged arm and hand with contempt. _Why am I so helpless?_

"Ugh my life sucks! How much worse could my week possibly get?" I exclaimed throwing my hands up in the air as I slid down the wall into a fetal position. Resting my head on my knees, tears started to gain in my eyes as I remembered Karin happily baking and smiling in Sasuke's apartment. _I'm just a nuisance, huh? Sounds like I am annoying him..._

"Guess how much worse it can get?" I looked up wide eyed to meet only the darkness of my living room.

"Who's there?" I breathed out as I rose off the ground and reached for a kunai that I realized was placed on the table. I looked in the shadows of the living room not seeing anything. Peering down the hallway was an effort in vain too.

"Boo~!" Someone whispered beside me. I jumped to my right to move away from the intruder, where I then proceeded to smack my leg on the side my couch and fall into it. All I saw were a pair of menacing eyes peering down at me through the darkness.

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So, who is the intruder? Teehee. Most of you probably remember. :P But what do you think? A lot different than the original chapter 2, huh? Well…you can tell me about it…whether or not you like it or hate it. Let me know in a review or PM. I'd like to know your opinions…considering I'm practically starting this whole story over. Whooo…nine pages in word. Yikes :P


	3. Decisions to be Made

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Ahh…took a nice shower and got a bunch more followers and favorites…which made my day at work yesterday XD I was kinda sad…I thought no one liked the new version :'( And then *BAM* A bunch of happy things in my inbox. :D So, for everyone who seems to like my, apparently _weird_, story (sniffles)….An update :D Yay! :P (Also, this got some of the fourth chapter mixed in at the end…:P )

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I was currently sprawled on my couch, uncomfortably I might add. There was a menacing pair of evil red eyes staring down at me, sending chills down my spine. The emotion in them was a smug one, like this situation was strangely amusing to them. I squinted my eyes to try to identify the unwelcome guest in my house, though the darkness proved stronger than my eyesight.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I tried to sound ferocious but my voice came out more like that of a kittens' meow. I quickly jumped off of my couch towards the closed drapes of my window. I tore them open instantaneously only to be taken aback when the light flushed throughout the room and, as intended, showed me who the intruder was.

"Is this a joke?" I scoffed. There was no way. _I must still be having symptoms from being smashed into the ground by Madara…_

"Do you want proof?" He smirked, as if he had wanted me to say something like that. He moved forward in a flash till he was right in front of me. The shock had me stunned in place as his right hand traced a scar on the left side of my abdomen. I glared at his absolute calmness. His closeness was unnerving.

"Only Chiyo-baa-sama or the real Sasori would know where that scar is. But Sasori and Chiyo-baa-sama died. Therefore, no one but me should know about that. Who are you?" I asked, refusing to believe something as outrageous as Sasori being alive! I watched him die with my own two eyes after all.

"Hmph. You will do as Akatsuki tells you to or Sasuke and the Kyuubi brat aren't going to have a very pleasant life, kay?" He said the last part playfully while winking at me. "There will be a member of Akatsuki with you or watching you at all times. If you fail the mission that Madara shall appoint you with, there will be dire consequences," His face was bored and his voice said the words like he was bored with them. He suddenly became very serious though. "You would be very unhappy if people you cared about started getting hurt, wouldn't you?" He paused to watch my eyes become fearful with a disgusting delight. "Every time you cross us or disobey a command, someone else will have to pay the price on your behalf. It will start with people you are just acquainted with, and will eventually move to people closer and closer to you. If you still don't get the hint, the Uchiha and Kyuubi will die for your failures." He moved until he was speaking right next to my ear. My whole body shivered in reaction to his chilling words.

"Madara wants Sasuke to be under him again, so he would not be killed. And you already want Naruto dead anyways. Why should I cooperate with you?" I scoffed at him for acting as if I was unaware of their objectives.

"We may not kill the Uchiha, I guess, but who said we couldn't make him suffer through unspeakable pain? Of course, you'd be watching the whole thing from the front row. Maybe I'll even use you as a puppet to do it?" He said the last words with a dark pleasure. I gulped inwardly. _I can't take the chance of risking other people…who knows what they could do. After all, Madara and Sasori have made it into the village somehow._

"If I did happen cooperate with you, what would my 'mission' be exactly?" I skeptically questioned.

"You'll find out later." He said as he started making hand seals. I put myself in as defensive a position as I could get into being so close to him. I watched carefully to what kind of jutsu he would be performing, then I realized I was an idiot. It was only a transformation jutsu, a very basic one too.

He repressed his chakra signature till it was that of a regular civilian. He had pale skin, much like Sasuke's. His hair was a dark, forest brown and his eyes a mossy green. His body structure was one that could make anybody jealous, toned but not beefy or overly buff. His new look was very appealing to me but I never forgot who he was and why he was here; therefore, I never let my guard down around him.

"C'mon. I'm taking you out." He said. He grabbed my hand abruptly and my heart skipped a beat. I wasn't attracted to him, but only Naruto had ever been so physically close to me before. _Snap out of it! He's trying to make you flustered!_

"Le-let me go!" My stutter gave away the turmoil I was feeling within. He smirked at his desired reaction and knew I was at his complete mercy. I couldn't yell out or say anything due to his earlier threat. He knew I wouldn't endanger anyone as long as I could help it.

People were gaping and staring, some pointing and whispering at me being hand in hand with this man. I could hear one mutter something about, "Wait till the Uchiha traitor hears about this" or "I wonder if the Uchiha will kill him too?" and other pointless stuff about Sasuke and me being with another guy. Not as if Sasuke would really care anyways. He practically told me I was worth the dirt under his feet! I was more worried Ino or Naruto would hear weird rumors about me with a guy and start worrying about my emotional health.

We ended up at an elegant, traditionally styled Japanese restaurant. The host seated us so that we had a view of the street outside. The booth was right against the window and lit by candle light and we were seated across from each other, so we could stare into one another's' eyes. _How cheesy can this place get?_ The host handed us our menus and left quickly after telling us our waiters' name. Sasori ignored his menu and stared at me deeply. I had lost my appetite for the entire week just seeing his gaze, so I directed my attention from the items inside the overly fancy menu to outside the window.

"Snow..." I whispered. It was still snowing in Konoha. It was building up more and more as the hours passed, slowly overtaking us. _So beautiful yet so cold…just like Sasuke-kun…_My thoughts turned dismal. As if on cue, Sasuke and Karin walked into the restaurant and were seated nearby. They hadn't noticed us though.

"Hmmm? Well that's no good," Sasori said with his head in his hand. He glanced calmly over at them and then back at me. "You can order anything you like, my treat." I looked skeptically at him, doubting his sudden kindness, but quickly looked through my menu once again. I needed some good comfort food, _**now**_. The kind of food that makes you gain five pounds and then makes you hate yourself for a week after for eating the damn stuff. I knew what I wanted the instant I saw it, though it seemed to be one of the cheaper things on the menu.

"May I take your orders?" The waiter was here right on time. I glanced at him impatiently, though he honestly was very timely. I was in a bit of a hurry to stuff myself though, not that I chose an overly fattening dish.

"Miso Ramen. _Please_." The 'please' was a bit forced, there was a sense of urgency in my voice and it made the waiter look a little...squirmish... _I must have sounded really rude... _Not that I cared about that right now. I just wanted my ramen. I admit, it wasn't a fattening food at all, but Naruto always seemed to comfort me by taking me out for ramen at Ichiraku.

"Anything for you, sir?" He said turning to Sasori anxiously. He seemed to want to get away from us, or me, very quickly.

"I'm fine. You sure you don't want anything else, **Saku-chan**? You don't have to watch how expensive it is just for me, _babe_." He stated with a flirty tone resonating in his voice. _He's really laying it on thick. Gross._

"No, **honey**, I found just what I wanted." A harsh tone found its way into my voice, which I didn't feel sorry for in the slightest.

"I will be right back with your order." The waiter said hurrying off with a speed that would put the Fourth Hokage to shame.

"So Sakura-**chan**, will you help us?" He got straight to the point as soon as we were alone. No small talk to ease into it. The air got a sickly and cold feeling to it suddenly. The feeling of being in a moist and dark dungeon with no hope of survival.

"With what? You still haven't told me your purpose in antagonizing me." _If I can find out what they want, maybe I can find a way to sabotage how useful I am to them...or maybe even ruin their plan entirely._

"Taking Sasuke back. Madara wasn't finished with him yet. Though, you already knew that." He said casually, like we were talking about the weather or something.

"And what does that have to do with me exactly?" I asked doubtfully. Like clockwork, my food came at that moment and interrupted the heavy moment between us.

**~Sasuke POV~**

Eating dinner with Karin was boring and almost painful to suffer through. Though I seemed to enjoy myself on the outside; I was really miserable on the inside. _Without my friends, being back in Konoha is almost meaningless._

I would normally never come to a fancy restaurant such as this due to all the stuck up people and me being shunned by the public. Karin had insisted that we eat here since she heard it was really good though. Desperate to find something to claim my deprived attention I started to look outside the window of the restaurant. I could see the vibrant. It was _really_ beautiful. Shades of red, orange, yellow and pink..._I wonder how hurt Sakura is...Why do I have to push her away so much? Even though I distanced myself from her plenty, Madara still fucking targeted her...__ I was even acting like I was with Karin for god's sake!_

I happened to spot a splash of pink while looking around the inside of the restaurant. _Sakura? Is that a guy with her? Oh, ...probably on a date. It isn't that big of a deal seeing as I let her go a while ago...I have no right to try to make her happy after I left her like that... She looks mad though. If she's mad, why is he so calm? He must be an idiot, she's frightening when she's angry. Is she eating ramen? Naruto must have rubbed off on her… _My mind was racing with thoughts and questions I didn't want to deal with or didn't have answers for.I couldn't read his lips for some reason but whatever he said changed the emotions on her face rather quickly. She went from looking mad to completely terrified. _How dare he upset her. _My blood was starting to boil.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Karin's yell grabbed my attention from the odd couple.

"What?" I said looking at her a little surprised with her sudden outburst. She looked worried and a little frantic.

"Are you alright? You've had a frustrated look on your face for the last couple of minutes. I've called your name at least ten times now." She said a little put out. She followed where my eyes had been. Her eyes went to slits and she looked upset. She grabbed something from her pocket pouch and stood up abruptly.

"Karin, what are you doing?" I was worried. Was she mad that I was looking at Sakura? _Oh god...No!_I reached out as she tried to throw a shuuriken in Sakura's direction and grabbed her wrist. "What the hell were you thinking, Karin?" I yelled at her. _Is she fucking crazy?_

"Can't you see it?" She asked dumbfounded. I looked at her with an expression that told her to elaborate. "Jeez, you're not very observant for a ninja are you? She's terrified. Look. Her body is shaking, her fists are balled up and she's sweating nervously. You see the expression in her eyes? She's scared of him." Karin pointed out all those very obvious things to me. I felt a little like an idiot. "And look at him," She continued, "He is very confident of himself right now. He must know that he is in control of the situation. This is not good Sasuke-kun. She could be in trouble right now." Karin said worriedly.

"Don't worry about it, just eat." I told her.

"But-" She retaliated.

"I said eat." I said in a commanding tone. We sat back down but I never took my eyes off of Sakura, uneasy about the man she was with. He didn't show high levels of chakra, so she could handle herself in a fight. But he seemed too odd…_I can't see what he's saying to her…if only I knew what he was saying to upset her this much._

**~Sakura POV~**

"Look," Sasori rubbed his temples, "Whether you like it or not Sasuke will be coming back with us and you better hope it doesn't involve a struggle. We can and will make it look like a bomb flattened all of Konoha. No one will manage to survive this time." He said in a bored tone. I started to remember when Pein had smashed Konoha to the ground. "It is your job to make sure he comes quietly and easily." He emphasized the importance of this in his voice. "If you cooperate **willingly**," He added, "we'll let the nine-tails brat live that much longer." The blood completely drained out of my face.

_They make it sound like they could take Naruto at any time. If Naruto had more time, he could become even stronger than he is now…that would mean a better chance of winning. But we would lose Sasuke…would Sasuke be __**that**__ willing to go back? Especially if I told him too…it would be suspicious…__Sure, we could always get Sasuke back again if he did go but fighting Sasuke and the Akatsuki would not be easy. There would be too many casualties. Not to mention, the village may completely reject him trying to come back again. The old members of Hebi would also become unwelcome in the village and once again probably become missing-nins._

"We would spare Konoha, no, the whole fire country when taking the nine-tails and Sasuke." A battle in my head was raging. The whole fire country or Sasuke! _What would Naruto do? No, I know what he would do. Be reckless. What would Tsunade-sama do?_

"I…can't fight that offer." My voice was small and my head hung so low as if it were asking him to cut it off. I kind of wished he would. I was betraying Konoha, my heart, my best friend and brother, my master, all my friends, the whole country, our allies, and most importantly Sasuke. Sasori smirked and placed his fingers under my chin, lifting my head. He looked into my sad eyes that wanted nothing else but to look away from his. But when I looked away, I saw Sasuke's coal eyes staring at us. They bore into mine looking for answers. I turned my head away quickly so he wouldn't see the tears forming in them.

"Now, now, Sakura-chan, it's not like you're killing anybody, you're actually saving many lives." Do these people even want to be saved at the cost of the happiness of other people? _I guess they won't ever know and will go on living happily..._

"Just tell me what to do and get out of my village!" I felt overwhelmed with guilt and sadness; like I could die any moment drowned by the regret pooling inside me.

"I'll let you know soon. First, let us leave this place. There are too many spying eyes here.

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Well, I feel like this chapter slipped a little bit. Yes, no, maybe? Opinions please :C What do you guys all think about it? Was it ok? How about who the intruder was? Were you expecting that at all? ;) Only if you read the original probably hahaha XD


	4. Change of Watch

****I'm sorry for this really late update. I was on vacation for a little bit and after I got back, I lost some of my ideas for this story. But then I had a stroke of genius! This chapter is really short because I just needed to get it out! I've been adding, deleting, and editing this pos for a week! But the next chapter will be better, I promise! :D

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**~Sakura POV~**

Sasori and I were walking from the overly fancy restaurant back to my apartment in the twilight. It was a quiet and cold walk. The white snow was still falling like a never-ending curtain. Sasori didn't say anything while we were walking back nor did he make any weird moves. I was in a solemn state of mind. _I can't take it back now...I'm helping Akatsuki take Sasuke away from us, Naruto...me..._

I wondered what it was Akatsuki had planned for me to do. After all, they wanted Sasuke to abandon the village **again**. After he worked so hard to fix the bonds with his old friends after leaving them, after he spent weeks trying to allow Hebi entrance to the village, after gaining even a _little_ respect from the villagers after months of being back in the village...they just wanted him to throw all that hard work away...

We finally made our way back to my apartment after the sun had completely set. As we entered the door I was insanely nervous to actually find out what it was Akatsuki wanted me to do to make Sasuke leave. Did they want me to rally the people against him? Make Tsunade have him leave because he's a dangerous criminal? Yet, as much as I wondered what it was, I didn't want to know. So I lingered in the doorway to my apartment and stared at the floor as Sasori flipped on the lights.

"Sakura." I flinched when he said my name. I continued to look down at the floor and acted like I didn't hear him. "Look, I'm going to leave you now. Someone else will tell you what your job is. There will always be an Akatsuki member watching you, so don't say anything unnecessary to anyone, unless you want them to die, understand?" I gulped a little and snuck a peek at him. He looked like himself again. Red eyes, red hair, Akatsuki cloak and angry expression. I nodded my head in understanding. _I can't even tell Tsunade-sama now..._

He exited through my sliding glass window and lept off of my balcony into the night. I, as composed as possible, shut and locked my door. I walked, robotically, towards my bathroom to take a long and hot shower before going to bed. Tomorrow was the mystery mission briefing.

**~Sasuke POV~**

I sat in my dark, quiet room on top of my bed, alone. Karin and I had left the restaurant and come back to my place. I had told her I was tired and wished to be alone so I went into my room, not caring what she did. I was at a bit of a loss. _Who was the man with Sakura? Does he have any connection to Madara? What did he say to make her look so scared? So __sad__?_

All these thoughts ran rampant in my head. In frustration, I laid down on my bed with my arms sprawled beside me. _Why did Madara want us on this mission? We'll die? What does he mean that we're all going to be in grave danger? And why did he target Sakura of all people? I tried to avoid her as much as possible so he wouldn't take an__y__ interest in her! I knew he was watching me this whole time. He never was happy that I left him right after I killed Itachi. I didn't even listen to what he had to say __at the time__..._

I rolled onto my side and saw the ring that was once my mother's. Memories started coming back to me about how she got it...

(Flashback)

_I was about seven years old at the time and it was my parents' wedding anniversary. My father entrusted me with the ring he was going to present to my mother later in the evening and I had lost it. I was in a panic trying to find it in the garden. _

_I knew it had been expensive when I saw the bright red ruby and two glittering diamonds shining at me when I had opened the box. I took it out to read the engraving inside "Love will always shine, even through the darkness..." I mumbled to myself. "What's that even supposed to mean?" I asked no one. But someone answered._

"_You'll know one day, my foolish little brother." Itachi had said to me. It startled me that he was there and I accidentally dropped it in the bushes. "You'd better find that quickly. Mother has called us for dinner." He walked away chuckling to himself while I began my search. I had finally found it after digging in the bushes to find it caught on a little twig of a branch. I ran inside for dinner. Tonight was special, so most of the family was at our house for dinner tonight. When I walked in the dining room, my mother gasped at how dirty I was. Dirt smudges on my face and clothes, twigs sticking out of my hair, and a cut I received from the evil bush on my cheek. __I sheepishly walked up to my dad and showed him I still had the ring. He nodded and stood to make a toast to my mother. It was heart warming._

_At the end of his speech he looked at me and motioned for me to come over. He grabbed my mother's hand and got down on one knee. I presented the ring and she smiled like I had never seen before. My father took the ring and read the engraving to my mother before placing it on one of her fingers. The family insisted we take a family picture, of the four of us, to commemorate the moment and so we did._

(End)

The picture Sakura had clutched in her hand had been the one we took that day. I looked at it on my bed side table. It had broken glass and blood all over it but I could still see my parents' happy expressions. As sadness and anger threatened to engulf me, so did sleep. My eyes closed quickly as I drifted into the darkness.

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Ok, so that was crappy chapter 4 :( But, Sasuke never listened to Tobi (*Spoiler alert* Freaking Obito you bitch! Why the hell are you Tobi!? Jerk-face trying to kill people and stufffff! *End spoiler*) XD So Sasuke doesn't know the true reasoning for what Itachi did that night :3 The next chapter should have the mission briefing in it. Any ideas what their mission should/might be? Btw, I'm moving Monday so I might not be able to get another chapter out until next week...


	5. Feelings Belong in the Trash

Hey guys. Here's chapter five. :D Moving was successful :P I had some time today so I decided to take that time to write. I start work on Monday though and I'll only have two days off weekly. That time, I'll be spending mostly with my boyfriend. So my updates might take one to two weeks in-between. I'm going to finish this story though. I'm excited to edit the next chapters. I have a new idea (which, in my opinion, is pure genius) for them and I kinda figured out what the mission is going to be. Enjoy the story :D

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**~Sasuke POV~**

I woke from my sleep when I heard the faint sound of someone breathing I my room. My eyes stayed closed so I could listen to the intruders' silent intentions but my body was tensed and ready for anything.

"I know you're awake, Sasuke." I heard the calm voice of Kakashi and relaxed.

"What do you want, Kakashi." I said while sitting up in my bed.

"Tsunade says she wants to see you now." He said in a bored tone; just staring at me blankly.

"I thought the mission briefing was at nine?" I said a little confused. It was only seven right now.

"She just wants to see **you** right now, Sasuke. Hurry up and go over there, she's in one of those moods." With that, he had left me there pondering what she could possibly want with me right now. I got up and threw on some clothes so I could make my way over there. I left through my window so I wouldn't have to deal with Karin.

Fifteen minutes later I found myself standing in front of Tsunade's office doors, the smell of sake was ridiculously strong. I could smell it from out here. _Drunk at seven in the morning? That's weird, even for her._ I heard nothing from inside the office so I knocked lightly and cracked open the door enough to see her slumped on her desk. I was going to leave when she picked her dreary head up and looked at me.

"Oh, Sasuke. You're just the man I wanted to see. Take a seat." She slurred while pointing to a half broken chair. I leaned against the wall. I had never sat down in her office before. It was too dangerous. You never know when things are going to start flying at you.

"Want to tell me what's wrong?" I had to choke that question out. It wasn't in my nature to ask such a question. Uchiha's don't care about people's personal problems. She got a weird look on her face, well weird for Tsunade anyways. She changed her expression to try to be serious, even though she was obviously drunk off her ass. She sighed and started rubbing her forehead with one of her hands.

"Promise me something, Sasuke. No, swear it on your parents' grave." I knew something serious was up when she said that. "No matter what Sakura says or does, protect her with your life." My eyes latched onto hers. "When you all leave for this mission, I want you to follow her and never let her out of your sight, not even for a moment. I don't trust this Madara guy and I think he may be toying with her from the shadows. I will grant you permission to do whatever you want, anything at all, if you keep her safe for me. Please." She almost begged, her teary eyes looking deep into my own. _Of course I would never let anything happen to her..._

"I swear, on my life, nothing will happen to her as long as I can help it. But why is no one doing anything about the Akatsuki, Tsunade? Madara just waltzed through our front door! He could have killed Sakura in seconds if he wanted to. He could have grabbed Naruto easily! Tell me what's going on. What is this mission that you are going to send us on?" I tried not to make her mad with my firm and stern voice.

"Right now Akatsuki is too strong for Konoha to do anything, our forces are too spread out on missions. It would devastate the entire nation if we fought them head-on right now. We can't take an attack from them so we can't afford provoking them. Giving into Madara's request isn't easy for me, you know. Sakura is the closest thing I have to a daughter. Naruto reminds me of my younger brother everyday. And you, Sasuke, though I haven't known you long enough, or well enough, to think of you as my blood family, you are very important to me. You are like the long lost family we finally found. I don't want to give you guys this mission. The three of you might not come back. It's practically a suicide mission." I wondered more and more what Madara could want us to do so badly he came himself.

"I don't know details, but I know Madara or Akatsuki are trying to use Sakura for something." Tsunade said with a worn-out expression, as if she'd been trying to figure it out all night. "I know my student well and she is acting as if something is troubling her. Akatsuki," She started saying while she poured herself more sake. "is toying with us. Infiltrating Konoha and leaving just as easily. They caused some very serious unrest with our citizens yesterday. It seems as if Sakura is Madara's target but I'm sure he's just using that appearance. Odds are he wants someone close to her. I'm betting it is Naruto but I can't be completely sure, it could just as easily be you he wants. Or maybe even all three of you. So be on guard for every possibility at all times. Try not to let there be a moment when all three of you are not together. Watch her closely and, no matter what, don't leave her side." I smirked as she said the last line.

"How could I refuse you, Hokage-sama?" She smirked back. It was the first time I had addressed her as 'Hokage-sama'.

"Alright you little shit. Don't get too cocky just because I'm giving you a mission like this. It could be a walk in the park or it could not be. Don't underestimate anything or anyone." I began to push myself off the wall, ready to leave.

"Oh, and Sasuke." She caught my attention again. "Don't forget, Madara has already gotten into the village. Akatsuki could just as easily be here already. Don't forget that." I nodded my head and walked out of her office. It was only about 8:20...I had forty minutes before I had to come back again. _Guess I'll go for a walk._

**Sakura POV**

I'm on my way to the Hokage tower right now for the mission briefing but..._Sasuke threw me down the stairs of his life yesterday. He made it clear that he honestly could care less about me. Am I supposed to act distant from him or be happy __to see him__? We'll be in front of Tsunade-sama and Naruto. I guess I should act as I always do around him __according to Sasori__...except, how do I usually act? Like a fan-girl? Don't I usually hug him? That would feel really awkward after yesterday__'s hug__..._I feel like a traveling freak show whenever I walk down the street lately. Talking to myself or being in the middle of some scene, it seems I'm always involved in something strange. I look strange enough to make parents steer their children away from me and step out of my way. _Do I look that crazy? Anyways, Sasori said don't push him away around friends...so should try to strike up a conversation with him in front of Naruto?_

"What are you doing, Sakura?" I looked up to give the main figure of my recent thoughts a puzzling look. _What...?_"You've been staring at that piece of sidewalk in deep thought for a couple of minutes now. You've been mumbling something about me...Don't tell me you're cursing me for yesterday?" He threw me an amused look. I wanted to grin shyly and give out an awkward laugh. I wanted to say, 'Oops, silly me. Lost in thought all the time'. _I have to act cold when we aren't around friends though. I have to confuse him, yet he's the one confusing me all the time. Yesterday I was a nuisance and today my stupidity is amusing to him?_ I walked right past him and acted as if he had never interrupted my thoughts. I wouldn't even give him a glance to acknowledge his presence as I walked by. _I hope I don't make him too mad._

"Hey, wait." He grabbed my wrist and turned me around to look at him. "I'm sorry about yesterday..." _He looked truly sincere as he said that, and I know he doesn't apologize everyday._ He had looked me straight in the eyes while he apologized and it made me feel like the worst person on the face of the planet. I removed my wrist from his grasp roughly and turned to continue towards the Hokage tower. I assumed he had a blank look on his face, void of emotion. But when he made me turn to look at him again, he looked genuinely hurt.

"Wait..." He said once again looking deeply into my eyes. It was as if he knew exactly what I was thinking; as if he was looking right through me. I had to look away from his eyes because I felt so...naked. He made me feel so revealed. Like he knew everything I was thinking. _It's for the nation. It's for Naruto. It's for the better good. It's for the better good..._That was to become my new mantra. I repeated it over and over again in my head while I decided how to leave him standing there.

"If you'll excuse me." With that I turned around and once again began to walk away. _It's better this way...He never loved me anyways. Why should I hang onto these useless feelings? They're better off in the garbage. That's not a bad idea actually._I stopped by a trash can that was placed on the street side. I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and looked at the familiar picture. Naruto and I had insisted that Sasuke take a picture with each of us when he had returned to Konoha; to commemorate the joyous occasion. He was, of course, less than thrilled about having his picture taken, but he eventually succumbed to our nagging. The picture of Sasuke and I was simple, but a cherished memory for me. We stood next to each other which made the difference in our heights very visible. I had a huge grin on my face but Sasuke wasn't smiling. He wasn't scowling either though. He was wearing his trademark smirk which had originally struck me as out of character for him. I was happy to see him making some kind of positive expression though. I slowly slid my long fingers behind the familiar picture and pulled it out from it's plastic shield. I took one last glance at the picture before I let it float down into the trashcan. _I'm done with these feelings. I'll kill my out of control emotions before they kill me, or someone important to me for that matter._

Unknown POV

_Everything is just all too easy. I have __all three__ of them in the palm of my hand. I was right in choosing them to be the main pawns in my plan. I quite enjoy playing with th__ose twos'__ feelings though. I might not be able to resist completely breaking them down. A frustrated Sakura and a confused Sasuke. Both soon to be heartbroken. Hope I don't break Sasuke too badly, after all, I need him to be in one piece when my plan starts to move forward. All the pieces are falling into place like the chess pieces on my chessboard._

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So how was it? Sorry the mission wasn't in this chapter. I thought it would be. But I guess not. This is the combo of the old chapter six and seven. It's not very long, I'm sorry :( I'm either going to get a head start on the next chapter now or I'm going to clean my room. (Which is my boyfriend's and mine XD So exciting!) Let me know if you have any ideas for the mission btw! I haven't totally figured it out yet :P Love you guys! :D


	6. The Bouquet

Hey guys! This is kind of a long update. :P My boyfriend decided to read my fanfiction when I went to visit my great grandma. Silly me for leaving it up on the lap top. But now he's going to be reading it and I can't put out just anything :P So I've been working hard on this chapter...though it kinda still sucks.

I'm going to dedicate this chapter to Nutmeg. We miss you Nutmeg :'(

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**~Sasuke POV~**

I, Uchiha Sasuke, just apologized to a person. Not just any person, either. A girl. And said girl totally stepped all over my apology. _How could I be so stupid. Of course she'd be pissed off. I was a total jerk to her yesterday. But it's not like her to ignore me like that, especially when I'm apologizing. It took a lot to ignore my pride and do that. _I stood in the same place she had left me with a blank face. The villagers had given Sakura and I their full attention. It seems we've been the talk of the town recently.

I had watched Sakura walk away towards the Hokage tower for our mission briefing. She momentarily stopped and threw what looked like a picture in a trashcan before she disappeared into the distance. I remembered a time she got mad at Naruto on a mission.

She sent him flying back into the trees of the forest with a powerful punch. We had stopped for lunch and Naruto wanted to leave an instant ramen cup in a clearing where we stopped to eat. She said the animals would die if they tried to eat the styrofoam cup and that we could tip off enemies by leaving evidence we were there.

I started walking back towards the Hokage Tower. Standing in that spot wasn't going to get me anything but a scolding for being late to the mission briefing. On a whim, I glanced into the trashcan that Sakura had stopped by. It had looked like she threw away a picture but I wasn't completely sure due to the distance. _Curiosity killed the cat._

I peered into the trashcan with a slightly curious expression on my face, though no one would ever recognize that there was an emotion showing on my face. _Hmmm...lets see. There's a couple newspapers, some snack bar wrappers, a couple chip bags and...a small piece of paper?_The petite paper struck my interest, so I picked it up. _Great, now there's going to be rumors of me going through trashcans or some shit._Once feeling the texture of the paper, I realized it **was** photo paper. Meaning that this **was **indeed a picture. Still greatly interested in what she threw away, I flipped the picture over in a fluid motion. _No way..._I had found out what Sakura threw away, all right, and it made me heart sink a little, though I would never admit that to myself.

It was a picture we took when I had arrived back in Konoha. Just a simple picture of Sakura and me. She was smiling so much, while I was...not...

_I couldn't have upset her this much, could I have? __This picture meant a lot to her.__What could I have done to upset her so much? __Was it yesterday? The incident with the ring? Or was it a few days ago and what happened when she saw Karin? _I once again resumed my walk towards the Hokage Tower. _Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. _I slyly slid the picture into my pocket as I placed my hands in them. _I'll get some answers from her later..._That I was sure of.

**~Sakura POV~**

Finally being in Tsunade-sama's office was a relief to say the least. I was the first one there, followed by none other than Sasuke, of course. Since we were in front of Tsunade-sama, I decided it was time to start up the act again. This time I had to be nice to him though.

"So, Sasuke-kun," I started cheerily, "how did you sleep last night? It got kind of cold out since it was snowing so much, I thought I was going to turn into a popsicle!" I had my big smile on and I was hoping my eyes didn't give me away. Inside I felt horrible for doing this to him, but outside I was being overly cheesy. He studied me closely, looking kind of skeptical. _Maybe I'm overdoing it a little?_

"Is something wrong, Sasuke-kun? You didn't get sick from last nights cold weather, did you?" As I fussed over his health he kept studying me like I was the only book that could help him pass an important final. I ignored his intense gaze looking me over.

"Hn, I'm not sick." He grunted at me and turned his attention to the giant window overlooking the city behind Tsunade-sama's desk. He kept his eyes flitting over the view of the bustling city. I felt as if his entire figure was sucking me in, it was the only thing I could look at. His perfect face and his slick, masculine jaw line had me dazzled. His skin was so clear and pale, yet his eyes so dark and mysterious. As I turned my gaze on his delicious looking lips I realized I had to tear my eyes away from his face. I was indulging my starving eyes and mind too much. I was stepping into territory that would get me into serious trouble. _Focus Sakura! There's no way you can make him leave if you yourself don't want him to._

"Well, how has your morning been so far? Well, I guess it's not morning anymore, silly me. Hehe." I acted playfully towards him and bonked myself on the head. He gave me a quick glance before returning his eyes onto the city. He never did care for small talk. _I was at least expecting a 'Hn. Fine'._

"Where is Naruto? He's late again!" Tsunade-sama bellowed while shooting up from her chair in frustration. She made a quick stride for her office doors. As she passed Sasuke and myself, she paused to say, "I'll be right back" before leaving. _Well, great. Now I'm in here alone with__**him**__._I moved away from Sasuke and sat in one of the chairs facing the front of Tsunade-sama's desk. I crossed my legs and placed my elbow upon my knee before placing my chin in the palm of my hand. I, too, then turned my eyes onto the city below us. People were carrying on with their daily lives; selling or buying goods, chatting with friends, going on a stroll with their family. They had no idea how lucky they were. _They don't even know what people do to let them have their happy lives. __Ninja die everyday for this peacefulness we enjoy. _I sighed, which I realized was a mistake after I had done it. Sasuke never made a movement that I was aware of, but he somehow ended up leaning on the desk a mere three feet in front of me. His onyx eyes bore into my emerald eyes like he was searching for answers to some questions he had floating around in his head. I only continued to stare past him at the city blankly. I wanted him to make the first move so I didn't mess up somehow.

"Well, what happened to the cheerful Sakura?" Sasuke asked while, for once, giving me his full and undivided attention. I was not so fond of that.

"What does it matter to you?" I snapped back at him with venom in my voice. He answered with a question that threw me completely off my guard.

"Do you hate me, Sakura?" He looked completely sincere when I chanced a look into his eyes. I didn't show it but that question had me wincing on the inside. _I could never hate you, Sasuke. How should I answer? If I say no then...but if I say yes...then..._

"Jeez Baa-san, you don't have to be so angry all the time! You'll get wrinkles with all the frowning you do!" At that minute Naruto walked into the office with his hands casually up behind his head. A furious looking Hokage was walking behind him. They didn't know it, but they had saved me from a really awkward situation. Sasuke gave me a glance that made me sure he was not done with his interrogation.

"Naruto, I can and will put you in the hospital for a year. I will personally make sure of it that you also won't see ramen for that entire year." Tsuande-sama said as she re-took her seat at her desk. Naruto gulped while Sasuke swiftly moved into a leaning position on the wall and I was safe for the time being. _How could he even ask such a stupid question!_

"Sakura-chan! Good morning!" Naruto exclaimed while pulling me out of my chair into a crushing bear hug. I smiled fondly and hugged him back. "Teme, you weren't bullying Sakura-chan, were you?" Naruto exclaimed while still holding me in his hug. I glanced at Sasuke to see his reaction. He smirked at me and said,

"As if she would let me, Dobe." His reply was cool but somehow irritated me. As if his question wasn't bullying me in his own little way.

"Alright, greetings are over. It's time to be briefed for your S-ranked mission. It'll be dangerous. I wish you all the best of luck. Now..." Tsunade had put an end to our 'friendly' conversation. I was nervous. _What kind of mission would Madara __personally want us __on?_That question had haunted me from the moment Tsunade had agreed to put me on this mission.

"Well, baa-chan, what the hell is our mission?" Naruto yelled out of anticipation. Tsunade just glared at Naruto while calmly pouring herself a glass of sake. She was sitting behind her desk looking us over slowly. It was just Naruto, Sasuke, and me. No Kakashi-sensei and no Yamato-taichou. I was starting to get really nervous. Like the kind of nervous where you get really sweaty and your hands start to shake. Then you realize people could easily notice how nervous you are so you try to wipe your hands off on your pants or something.

"You are not aware of this, but the fourth Mizukage has been being manipulated by Akatsuki for a long time now. For many years the Village Hidden in the Mist has been under their dark control. Your mission is to infiltrate the land of Mist, meet up with one of my associates and assassinate the current Mizukage. Thus, allowing a new Mizukage to take the place and no longer allowing Akatsuki to have the ability to control the land of Mist. Any questions so far?" She stared us all deeply in the eyes. Almond boring into cerulean, onyx and emerald orbs.

"How are we going to make sure Akatsuki doesn't take over the land of Mist in the confusion of their Mizukage being killed?" Sasuke smirked at Tsuande-sama like he had just won some sort of a war between them. She calmly folded her hands under her chin closing her eyes. She paused for what felt like forever. Her eyes burst open right when Naruto was opening his mouth to speak.

"Well, Sasuke, it would be great if you could just kill all the Akatsuki members off while you're over there wreaking havoc," She started with a arrogant tone in her voice, "but that might be a little challenging for you. So, my associate is going to lead a revolutionary force through the land of Mist's hidden village and take over the spot of Mizukage in all of the confusion. They have a lot of support from both shinobi and villagers. Hopefully they will be able to help you guys out once you enter the land of Mist. There are more details in this scroll. Burn it when you've all memorized it. Gather as much information on Akatsuki as you can while you're there too. The current Mizukage may have a lot of information on them somewhere in case they tried to double-cross him. Get your hands on it no matter what. I fear that Akatsuki is getting ready to strike soon." She finished with a grave look implanted on her young-appearing features.

"Geez, baa-chan, what gives you _that_idea, hmmm? When Madara popped up and told us he was going to start a war three weeks ago?" Naruto finished with a 'hmph'. He had a point though.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX Flashback XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX (Sakura POV)

_I was walking up to the office that belonged to my teacher and Hokage. I was bringing her some important paperwork for the hospital. This somehow seemed to have become a daily routine for me though. I start my day with some early morning training, walk around the village a little and chat with some villagers, then I'll go find Sasuke and see if he needs anything. Since the villagers don't like him, it makes it difficult for him to attain the necessities of daily life. He could barely go to the market to buy food. I'd then either go work a shift at the hospital or go see Tsunade-sama to help her with her work. Then I'd maybe go see Naruto. Sometimes we'd go eat at Ichiraku or go for a walk._

_But today seemed to be a little off of that routine. I smiled and pushed the big double doors open to reveal what I thought would have been Tsunade-sama. I thought maybe she would be giving out some missions, getting drunk, or sleeping on her paperwork. But I didn't expect her to be standing behind her desk with a furious look on her face. _

_The scene before me was almost unbelievable. There was an Akatsuki member standing calmly in the middle of her office. She was surrounded by countless members of ANBU black ops. The other person in the office made my stomach drop though. Naruto was sitting down in a chair, also surrounded by many ANBU, locked in a staring contest with the mysterious man._

_Naruto shot me a worried glance when I dropped all the paperwork in my hands to grab for a kunai. His eyes yelled at me to leave but I was frozen in place when the man turned his one, uninterested eye in my direction, finally acknowledging my presence. He looked at me with a bored expression in his eye, which I couldn't tear myself away from._

"_Sakura, I think it would be best if you left now." Tsunade-sama said harshly, accenting the need for me to leave hastily. I glanced at her before I looked back at Naruto with worried eyes. My eyes clearly stated my worry and that I wasn't leaving._

"_She's right, Sakura-chan. Leave!" Naruto said with a sense of urgency in his voice. The intruder seemed to now find more interest in my presence. Maybe because the Hokage and his obvious target showed worry over me. Or maybe it was because he didn't want me to go and recruit more help. Either way, I wasn't leaving. _

_He turned back his eyes back onto Naruto. It made me uncomfortable to know that Naruto was at a horrible disadvantage because he was sitting. The only comfort I felt was knowing there were three ANBU standing in the way between the man and Naruto. Another three surrounded Tsunade-sama and there were two more standing behind the man. Then there was me, standing oddly in the doorway, with no ANBU between this dangerous man and myself; not that I was his target or anything._

_The tapping of shoes against the ground didn't register in my mind as I kept my full attention on this strange, masked man._

_"What are you doing just standing there, Sakura?" Is what I heard called out from beside me. I wasn't afraid anymore because I recognized his voice right away. It was Sasuke. I felt a little better knowing he was near me now. Like I had a fighting chance if this guy came our way. I motioned towards the inside of the office with my head and he casually looked inside as he reached my side. He startled everyone when he let out a feral growl and slid between the masked man and myself, taking a defensive position._

_"Uchiha Madara." He hissed venomously. I peeked over Sasuke's shoulder expecting this man to be looking at Sasuke. But to my surprise, he wasn't. He was looking over Sasuke's shoulder back at me. This time, though, it seemed as if I had his full attention. After looking at me for what seemed like five lifetimes, his eyes sparked as if a light bulb had just went off in his head. Smoothly turning so his back faced Sasuke and me, he began to address Tsunade-sama._

_"I am going to start the next ninja war and I will be aiming to collect the remaining two jinchuuriki. You would do well to surrender Naruto now and avoid the destruction of Konoha. I-" But before he could finish, Tsuande-sama gave him a piece of her mind._

_"Fuck you." After she said that he gave off an evil laugh. He said we would regret that decision and gave Naruto, Sasuke and I another meaningful look. He disappeared after that in an orange swirl._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX End Flashback XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Naruto be quiet!" I quickly reprimanded. The last thing we needed was for him to go and piss off the Hokage before a big mission!

"But Sakura-chaaaaan..." He whined; which reminded me of a little kid who didn't get what they wanted.

"No 'buts' Naruto. We have to quickly get ready for our mission." I said while grabbing the scroll that was filled with everything we needed to know and dropped it into Sasuke's hands. "You guys read it first. I have something to take care of really quick. Meet me at Ichiraku for dinner at around 5 and give the scroll to me then. I'll dispose of it later." I said walking away. Stopping at the door abruptly I turned to say, "Oh, and we leave in the morning, right Tsunade-sama?". She nodded her head and I left the Hokage tower.

I walked through town with a solemn expression on my face. The sky was overcast with dark, heavy clouds ready to release the rain any moment. It was roughly ten in the morning and it seemed the whole day would have a gloomy air to it. I made it to a familiar flower shop and hurried inside as the rain started to drizzle. I found Ino alone and stationed behind the counter with a bored expression. Her face immediately lit up when she saw me but dropped into a frown just as quickly.

"You don't look so good today, Sakura. Did something happen?" She questioned me with a knowing tone. I shook my head and flashed a meek grin.

"No. Just dreary outside today. I have a big mission tomorrow so I wanted to come and get flowers while I had the time." I replied honestly.

"The usual?" She said giving me a sad and knowing look.

"Yeah." I replied softly; avoiding her penetrating gaze. She gathered the flowers and went back behind the register to ring up the familiar order. She wrapped the bouquet of flowers in a black, silk bow. The flowers consisted of:

Blue roses for mystery.

Yellow roses for extreme betrayal.

Acacia blossoms for friendship.

And heath blossoms for solitude.

It was a strange looking bunch of flowers, but it represented a lot. To me, my comrades and _him_. I payed for the bouquet and reached to grab them, but Ino held them just out of my reach.

"Not so fast. Tell me about your mission tomorrow. Is it going to be dangerous?" She looked at me with worry in her eyes. I sighed and let my hand fall beside me.

"It's one of those I can't really give details about. But, it'll be big. Whether we succeed or fail, it will have a huge impact on the shinobi world. To be honest, I'm scared to go. I have no idea what's in store for me but Naruto and Sasuke will be there. So I know that I won't be alone. I might not see you for awhile though, Ino." I said with a sad smile. She looked me in the eyes and I knew she was worried about me.

"Be careful, Sakura." She said with a sad voice. She handed me the flowers unwillingly.

"I will, Ino. See you later." I walked away from her with a wave and smile.

"Bye." She said and waved back. I left her flower shop with a certain destination in my mind, determined to get there even with the rain coming down on me.

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So what did you all think? I worked hard on that flashback...like...I redid it a couple times. I hope it was good for you guys, cause I liked it. And what about that moment between Sakura and Ino? As touching as I wanted it to be? Or did it just suck?


	7. An Authors Note

I'm sorry if you got excited for a new chapter. Last time I was in the groove and updating a lot, I realized I made a mistake in the story line. I didn't want to edit and re-release the chapter so I gave up for a little bit. But I've been really wanting to update lately so hopefully in the next couple days, I'll update again. I'm also going to move in the next couple days too and won't have internet for a bit so don't expect it to come out too soon. Once again, I'm sorry for my long delay.


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